


Blue Cornflowers

by MohnblumenKind



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Cold War, Gen, Historical Hetalia, Minor Canonical Character(s), Minor Character Death, World War I, World War II
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-13
Updated: 2018-05-15
Packaged: 2018-08-22 05:37:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8274742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MohnblumenKind/pseuds/MohnblumenKind
Summary: This is the story about how Germany came to be and how his relationship to his big brother Prussia developed. It will describe historic events in Germany's live, starting in 1807 and will continue through history. It is way darker than the Hetalia canon, but I couldn't write about wars, revolutions and politics with the ease the original story does.





	1. Prologue: 1806 Holy Roman Empire [Heiliges Römisches Reich Deutscher Nation]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologise for spelling and grammar mistakes (especially for the adverbs. I somehow do not grasp the concept of adverbs in the English language). So feel free to correct me and I hope you enjoy this story nonetheless!
> 
> See the end of the chapters for translations.

The white haired soldier rushed through the palace, crossing golden, ostentatious hallways and climbing stairs taking two steps at once. He didn't care for Austria's pomp or the startled looks he received from the maidens seeing a Prussian soldier running through the royal palace in Vienna.

"That bastard", he repeated over and over muttering to himself, not really knowing who he actually meant. Probably Austria, or better: all of them. All the south German nations could go to hell, right now please. Or they would, as soon as he would be done with them. Not to speak of France. There would be a special treatment for this guy and definitely war with the blond curls smeared with drippy blood. But later. First, Prussia had to deal with the German traitors.

Finally, he reached the gates at the end of another decorated hallway. Breathless, he pushed the doors open, white hair dishevelled and red eyes wild like a devils.

"What the hell have you bastards done?", he hissed between his teeth. Apparently, he had decided to be mad at everyone upon realizing that in fact all the nations were present.

Württemberg frowned at him and Bavaria scowled with crossed arms while Baden simply ignored the intruder at the entrance completely. But Prussia was hardly interested in the southern states for now. They were little nations, not worth his attention. They would eventually receive his wrath later.

Instead, the Prussian directed his glare at the host, who had turned towards the entrance when the door was forcefully pushed open. Austria at least had the decency to look guilty and averted his gaze when the crimson eyes stared at him. This calmed Prussia immediately. Cold rage replaced his anger and was even more dangerous. He tried to keep any emotion from his voice, making it as cold and deadly as a Russian winter.

"You owe me an explanation", he hissed, not addressing anyone in particular, while he crossed his arms to prevent his hands from clenching into fists. He was sure they understood his question, since he had received a letter from France telling him gleefully that Holy Rome was a 'little mess' due to 'the glorious France' and the south Germans and that the Prussian should go and see for himself. And since Holy Rome lived with Austria – much to Prussia's distaste – he immediately went to pay Vienna a visit.

" _Preußen_ , stop acting like you own the place or as if you are better", Bavaria scolded, the R rolling soft and foreign in his words. Prussia absolutely loathed him – this feeling was mutual – and receiving a scornful look from blue Bavarian eyes didn't do any good to his fury. He would have loved to leap forward and show that little nation his place, but that wouldn't solve anything, nor provide answers. So he settled for another hateful glare and a silent promise for some very violent actions against the southern nation as soon as he would catch him off guard.

Austria must have felt the rising tensions – one didn't need to be a genius to notice that – because he cleared his throat softly. That didn't had the desired effect on the two glaring nations because Prussia never cared much about what Austria had to say – it didn't matter that Austria was an empire, a double monarchy and even in charge of Holy Rome. And Bavaria, for once, didn't care as well and he provided the explanation promptly.

"You are not better in any way, _Preußen_. France just made me into an actual kingdom. We're equals now. Kingdoms." He obviously enjoyed himself a lot while watching as realization dawned the northern nation.

"He did WHAT?!", the Prussian snapped, silently cursing that apparently his ability to formulate smart answers had lost him.

"Yes. France made me and Württemberg kingdoms and Baden can call himself 'the Grand Duchy of Baden', now. You won't be able to feel superior anymore."

Bavaria a kingdom. Hell, all southerners got some kind of better status – and likely more favours – from fighting alongside with France against Austria. In fact, he himself loved to fight Austria once in a while, but since the empire was in charge of Holy Rome, fighting was no option. He would never hurt this little, blue eyed boy with golden hair.

But obviously, the southern nations had no problem with that at all, instead they bragged about their new status as if they deserved it. They definitely didn't, not with being little traitors and siding with France on his destruction of Holy Rome.

But before Prussia could voice a pretty smart and probably spiteful response, Austria intervened again.

"I am sorry, Prussia", Austria said softly.

Prussia's head jerked up. He had never heard the empire apologize, let alone to him. And since Austria was usually in favour of the south Germans who likely sided with him in most disputes with Prussia, due to their common dislike of the northern kingdom, Austria didn't seem to mean to apologize about their new status. Plus the devastating look on his face made Prussia almost cringe.

The sudden change of topic – what was the new topic anyway? – caught him off guard.

"What?", he replied. To hell with any smart answers.

The other three nations went completely silent and from the corner of his eyes Prussia noticed that they suddenly seemed to be very occupied with looking elsewhere.

"He's dead", Austria continued with this sorrowful voice, despite the fact that Prussia still had absolutely no clue what they were talking about.

"Who is dead?". Dammit smart answers, why did anyone seemed to know what this was about and why was he, the awesome Prussia, so clueless?

"Holy Rome", was the short answer Prussia received.

The northern kingdom looked absolutely lost. One could almost pity him for the expression he had on his face.

"Holy Rome is dead?", Prussia echoed, still at a loss for words or even coherent thoughts. This was when he noticed that the other countries gathered in front of a table on which a small boy laid in state. As Prussia tentatively stepped closer the others moved out of his way.  
The whole world was dull. It seemed that all the light went with the last breath of the little golden haired boy.

Prussia took the little body into his arms and left. No one tried to stop him as he exited the room, entering the grey and shallow hallways.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Preußen (German) = Prussia


	2. 1807 The idea of Germany [Die Idee Deutschland]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ... I am alive? ...
> 
> Enjoy!

There was war. French troops had flooded into Prussian lands, unleashed destruction and death, entering Berlin in October 1806, only nineteen days into the first attack. Prussia struggled and fought with all he had, with anger and despair against the nation that killed the Holy Roman Empire. Austria had already been defeated with the little dead empire in his arms, the southern Germans were on France's side, Prussia's ally Saxony just had left and allied with France, too. After visiting the tomb of Old Fritz – Prussia still cringed by the thought of this – the French troops had continued their march, driving the Prussians and Russians out of their Polish territories, much to the delight of Poland, who was baptised into the 'Duchy of Warsaw'. He now had a new ruler, the king of Saxony, whose country was promoted and labelled a kingdom after siding with France, too. France made all this little nations and territories into duchies and kingdoms, thus loyal to him and fighting with determination.

Prussia hated him and these greenhorns so much, licking his wounds alone and in agony. They were all traitors and murders. They destroyed his awesome land, they had taken Holy Rome away from him.

Dwelling on his hate, the white haired nation sat under an oak tree somewhere in the west of the former territories of Holy Rome. The tree rose above a hill, covered in soft, green grass. Next to the tree, at the very top of the hill, was a small grave, nothing more than a pile of stones.

Prussia came here often, ever since he had buried the little body here and now, given that he lost this war, he didn't feel like returning any time soon to his defeated capital or to the grave of his beloved King Frederick.

Lost in thoughts, it took him a long time to realize that he wasn't alone anymore. A little toddler had somehow lumbered to the pile of stones, and uneasy on its feet had fallen down right next to it.

Prussia looked up and after considering the child, decided to investigate in this matter.

He made his way over to the toddler when it started to giggle and reached for one of the blue cornflowers standing scattered around the grave. Sensing the man behind, it turned awkwardly, clumsy fingers closing around the flower, crystal blue eyes peeking through golden hair.

Prussia blinked confusedly. The boy seemed to be so familiar.

Then he bend down to gather the small child. Holding it in his arms, he smiled at it, sensing that the other was as little human as he himself.

"Hello, little one", he greeted the child softly. "How nice to meet a nation here. Whoever you are, I am happy to meet you."

The child simply smiled and giggled and started to rip on its blue flower.

“I don't know your name. Maybe you don't even have a name yet...", Prussia told the child. And it began to dawn on the Prussian kingdom that if he didn't knew this kid, probably no one did. He just found a newborn nation. A newborn nation on German territory, where Holy Rome used to be. A smirk started to form on his pale face. That was awesome. It seemed that destiny or whatever higher power was in charge had granted him a second chance. While he had failed to protect Holy Rome, he would not fail this time. He would use his second chance.

"Little one, you know what? I will take you to a safe place so you won't have to fear anyone ever. I will protect you. I promise."

And while he left the oak tree and the small pile of stones with the child in his arms, he added softly, "I'll call you West, OK?".

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: This was the only chapter with not much historic facts in it – not even the title or date is real. And I rewrote it a couple of times because I couldn't decide on whether HRE is Germany or not. So finally I decided that little Germany would mysteriously turn up here where HRE's body is and since they are nations and therefore dying is way more complex for them, maybe they are the same, after all, like a reincarnation. (OK, that sounds like West is a zombie...)


	3. 1813 Battle of the nations [Völkerschlacht bei Leipzig]

  
It was a cool October morning. A breeze came from north-east, chasing heavy white clouds westwards. The first light danced yellow at the horizon, causing the pale sky to glow greenish. The small boy tucked his hands into the black dyed coat of his uniform to keep his fingers warm. He looked up as someone approached him and upon recognizing the white haired albino he immediately took his hands out of his pockets, suppressed the shiver caused by the wind and straightened up. He didn't want to appear weak, did he?

"Pffff.... It's way to early in the year for clouds heavy with snow. No doubt, this is his fault", the man declared, complaining about Russia as always. Then he turned to meet the boys blue eyes with his crimson red eyes. The boy always wondered how this eyes managed to become soft and careful as soon as they were directed towards him. Despite this unsolved mystery, Prussia's presence made him smile slightly, which promptly was rewarded with a wide smirk.

"I see, they got hold of some uniform for you", Prussia asserted.

The blond boy nodded and twiddled nervously with his black sleeve. It had not been easy to get a uniform that fitted the size of a six year old. He admired the older nation in his Prussian uniform, blue coat and grey trousers.

After all, the boy didn't even have a name, he had never met another nation besides of the personification of the Prussian kingdom and – most important – he had never been in a battle before. And knowing the joyful expression Prussia got when talking about the battles he had fought, the blond boy knew he would make the Prussian proud with winning a battle. Which sounded good but was frightening as hell, to be honest.

A soft chuckle pulled him out of his thoughts. His brother had lowered himself to his knees in front of him.

"You are nervous? Because of the battle?", Prussia asked knowingly.

Caught, damn.

As an answer, the boy nodded again. Reasoning that if he continued only to nod he might appear dumb – which would definitely be counter productive in pleasing his brother. But said brother didn't seem to care about that right now.

"It's OK to be nervous. Really. At my first fight I was so nervous, you wouldn't believe it. But I was awesome at the end. Only that matters." The Prussian shifted his feet so that he would kneel more comfortable before addressing the boy again.

"Remember, I showed you how to fight. And you are not supposed to fight much, anyway. I am going to watch over you. I've talked to the other nations, they will keep an eye on you, too. Well, in case of Russia, that might be unfortunate, but anyway... You'll be fine."

The boy who had carefully listened with wide eyes nodded in affirmation, but promptly stopped in favour of a small " _ja_ , big brother" upon remembering his plan on how not to appear dumb. Whenever the boy called Prussia 'big brother' he was rewarded with an affectionate and genuine smile, causing a delightful feeling and him reusing this title frequently. He wanted to please Prussia after all.

The blond boy shortly thought about pretending to be all right but then decided otherwise.

"It's just... I don't even have a name. How can I fight without one?", he whispered, so that the other one had to lean in to catch the words. The older nation looked at him puzzled.

"That's what troubles you?", the albino asked, but didn't expect an answer since he continued immediately. "First of all, you are here and despite of your size" - Prussia ruffled his hair affectionately - "you are a nation even though your people haven't decided on a name yet. I can't name you properly because – to be honest – I have no clue who you will be. But I call you West and I think for the first battle, that is a name you will fight victorious with!"

The boy wasn't convinced at all.

"What is when they call me differently, once they decide upon a name?", he objected.

Prussia smiled, shaking his white hair.

"You are German, for certain, little one. And I found you westwards. They can call you whatever they want but since I, the awesome Prussia, is the easternmost German country, you will always be 'West' for me", he announced bluntly, squeezing the boys shoulders.

  
West followed his brother through the camp. The armies had arranged their tents next to Leipzig, a city in Saxony, where the Napoleonic troops gathered. He was told that France was accompanied by the Duchy of Warsaw and the kingdoms of Italy, Saxony and Württemberg. The meeting with those would happen at the battlefield but right now they headed towards a meeting with their own allies.

While walking along the tents, soldiers crossed their path. They were from all over Europe: the Russians with their green jackets and elegant white trousers, alongside with the Austrian soldiers, dressed completely in white. Prussia always laughed at them, telling the little boy that Austrians loved to show off but that they were terrible easy targets on the battlefield with their white uniform.

With all in mind what Prussia had told him, West tried to distinguish every soldier they met. Some of them were German, some not. There were Austrians and Prussians, joking in German together, wearing completely different uniforms and fighting in different regiments. Some of the soldiers were in the Austrian troops, but actually Hungarians, visible on the light blue trousers in contrast to their all white German comrades. His head buzzed with all the detail he tried to remember.

"Beilschmidt!", a voice ripped him from his observation. One of the all white soldiers stopped in front of Prussia with a stern look on his face.

"We are waiting", he said accusatory.

“Hey Austria”, Prussia answered.

“Shhh”, the Austrian nation hissed disapprovingly. West had been told that when the nations were publicly displayed, they usually used their human names. But apparently his big brother did not care much for regulations.

Austria's gaze had lowered to the little boy behind the albino. His expression was inscrutable.

"That's him?", he asked solemnly.

West felt uneasy under the inquiring glance.

" _Ja_ ", Prussia said with a beaming smile full of pride, but only earned a stern look from the Austrian.

The boy looked puzzled at this brother. What did he do to deserve such an irritable inspection? The Prussian didn't meet his gaze but while keeping an eye on Austria, he possessive laid his arm around West shoulders.

"Let's go and meet the others", he said while pushing the boy softly forwards.

Austria straightened his white uniform and followed them, still frowning.

“He looks like him”, Austria sofly muttered, but Prussia either hadn’t heard him or ignored him on purpose while he made his way trough the camp.

  
Prussia entered the big tent, directly behind him the blond boy and the stern Austrian. They were greeted with a blessed smile from a very tall man in a Russian uniform and a well-intentioned nod from a blond in a yellow and blue uniform.

The personifications of Russia and Sweden, West noticed, proud to remember all the uniforms his brother had taught him.

They gathered around the table on which a map laid. Austria on their left, behind the table Sweden, on their right Russia. Sweden shortly described their position and those of the various troops, pointing on the map between them showing Leipzig and it's surrounding areas. The boy lost track of the discussion very fast, even though he tried to remember all the facts and planned troop movements. While the other nations discussed their plans, West was looking lost at the map and Austria continued to shoot stern glances at him.

The three big nations from the mainland never had the same opinion. It took them a long time to agree that Russia was the supreme commander of all the coalition forces. Austria objected since he was an empire and Prussia simply always disagreed with Russia. Sweden tried patiently to smooth the melee.

In the end they had a plan and confident in their ability, the four nations departed to head to the battlefields.

  
The battle was long. At least that was what West thought of his first battle. After the fist two days he was glad that the Lützow Free Corps, whose uniform he used, had dyed their coats black – they hadn't got enough cloth in the same colour for all the new recruits so dying everything black was the easiest option to get a standardized uniform – and the blood and dirt from the fights were nearly not visible on the dark uniform.

Austria had much more problems but with his determined look on this face, the dirty white trousers and bloodstained coat, he looked as fiercely as an angle of death. Which was no comparison to Prussia who definitely was born for battle. His red eyes sparkled with delight and his pale skin and hair was smeared with blood. Mostly not his, West hoped.

Prussia kept his promise and always hovered over him, blocking French soldiers and protecting him from most harm.

On the third day the boy was tired form the fights, being less careful and clumsy. He didn't notice the Saxon soldier approaching him. But Prussia did, of course. He immediately was right next to the little boy, staring at the soldier.

" _Verschwinde, Sachsen!_ ", he hissed, his eyes narrowed.

The newly crowned kingdom and former ally of Prussia smiled coldly and greeted him with an ironic bow. Then he noticed the small boy which hid behind the Prussian.

"Is he a nation?", the country of Saxony asked curious.

" _Ja_. A new one. He is a German", Prussia said quietly.

Saxony looked at the boy, recognition in his eyes.

"He is Germany", he mumbled in awe.

Both nations went quiet. While the waves of the battle roared around them, neither of the two moved.

Then the Saxon sighed, turned his back on them, waving shortly, leaving his two enemies puzzled.

Only minutes later, the Saxon troops started an offensive, launching forward fastly. Prussia shoved West back, to protect him from the incoming attack.

Saxony reappeared next to them but instead of raising his gun, he smiled at them and nodded towards the French line.

"You two want to join me, kicking the French back home?", he asked nonchalantly.

"Treachery?", Prussia asked disbelievingly.

"Heck, no!", the kingdom of Saxony answered. "Just joining my German brothers against the foreign French invaders!", he laughed maniacally.

"That's all right with me", Prussia smirked.

  
"Hey _Preußen_ , mind if I fall into line with my cavalry, too?", Württemberg announced behind them. He looked very smug about it and his pretty horse pranced.

"What about your new favourite lover France?", Prussia taunted.

"I am more a fan of riots than fidelity", the southern kingdom answered winking.

  
After four days of fighting, the Coalition of Sweden, Russia, Prussia, Austria, Saxony and Württemberg won against France and his remaining allies Italy and Poland. The retreating French army had to fight again when Bavaria decided to block France's way as well, although he was not nearly as vicious as his German brothers were. Later, Prussia would joke that Bavaria couldn't stand to be excluded but joining forces directly with the Prussians on the battlefield was no option for the stubborn southern kingdom.

Altogether, Prussia was delighted. His mood was on a peak, bordering to madness. He lifted the golden haired boy to his shoulders, celebrating his first victory frisky, telling everyone how proud the awesome Prussia was of his little brother. West was as happy as a newborn nation without a name could be. He had made his big brother proud.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ja (German) = Yes  
> Preußen (German) = Prussia  
> Verschwinde, Sachsen! (German) = Back off, Saxony!
> 
> AN: I am sorry for the OCs, but I needed Württemberg and more over Baden for some of the later chapters. I try not to foccus too much on them, because OCs are not that popular. But since Prussia and Austria exist in the original canon, the other German countries have to, too.


End file.
